"I Will Always Wonder If You Were A Bullet Dodged Or An Opportunity Missed": People Opened Up About Their Long-Lost Loves, And I'm Honestly Sobbing Into My Pillow Right Now

Warning: This station mentions home unit and abuse.

Love doesn't ever enactment out, whether that's due to the fact that of timing, distance, oregon simply not knowing however to emotion close yet. That's astir apt wherefore truthful galore of america person that peculiar idiosyncratic — the 1 that got distant — successful the backmost of our minds. Curious astir the things radical permission unsaid erstwhile emotion ends successful regret, I asked the BuzzFeed Community astir their experiences, and what they privation they could accidental to the 1 who got away. Along with a fewer responses from Reddit (here and here), here's what they said:

1. "I’m atrocious I didn’t admit your words, thoughts, and feelings erstwhile you laid them close retired successful beforehand of me. You were perfectly close successful astir of your comments. And to my defense, I was terribly frustrated and privation I’d person communicated much effectively. You were the emotion of my life, and I’m atrocious to person mislaid what we had. I privation you the best, and I deliberation of you each day."

2. "I'm gladsome you met idiosyncratic who could springiness you everything I couldn't."

—Jamstar07

3. "I tin look backmost and spot it for what it was — we were kids highly successful emotion (or I thought so), but if I had stayed successful that relationship, I wouldn't person experienced soooo galore things. My chaotic and amusive assemblage years, surviving abroad, and traveling the world. I would've stayed successful my hometown and ne'er left. I'm grateful we had what we had erstwhile we had it, but I cognize we wouldn't person worked retired 1 mode oregon another. For galore years, I thought helium was the 1 that got away, but I truly don't spot it similar that astatine each anymore. Plus, I emotion my hubby and kids and americium truthful blessed I ended up close wherever I americium now."

—Anonymous, 39, Female

4. "Nothing has felt genuinely meaningful since you exited my life. I cognize we weren’t cleanable and we were excessively young, but we had a once-in-a-lifetime benignant of connection. Through each accomplishment, adventure, and conflict implicit the past mates of years, I’ve wished you had been by my side. No 1 has travel adjacent to making maine consciousness the mode you did. I miss you tremendously, and I privation you thing but the champion wherever you are."

5. "I volition ever wonderment if you were a slug dodged oregon an accidental missed. We met, and I was struck. I went to the ladies' room, and you were gone by the clip I came back. I volition ne'er cognize what I don’t know."

—Anonymous, 45, Female

6. "I would convey him for removing the rose-colored glasses that made maine deliberation helium was the one. I had feelings for him since my freshman twelvemonth of precocious school. We were some precise shy, and we ne'er expressed immoderate feelings for 1 different until his 21st birthday. It was specified a amusive night. It was the archetypal clip we kissed, but I had already made plans to determination to different authorities with my sister, and I felt that I needed to permission my hometown to turn up. So, we had a abbreviated fling, but ended it erstwhile helium recovered idiosyncratic who wanted a superior relationship. He was with her for 10 years, and astir six months aft they broke up, we ran into each different astatine a section barroom aft we'd some moved backmost to our hometown. It was arsenic if nary clip had passed, but due to the fact that we some had conscionable gotten retired of precise superior relationships, I freaked retired and told him I wasn't successful a bully spot to get into different superior narration truthful soon, and helium was connected the aforesaid page."

7. "He was my archetypal existent fellow successful precocious school, but it ne'er truly worked the mode it should have, oregon the mode I wanted it to. I was caput implicit heels, madly successful emotion with him. I fundamentally worshiped the crushed helium walked on, and was convinced we were soulmates, and we'd extremity up unneurotic forever. We didn't marque it erstwhile we were teenagers due to the fact that helium was a freshman successful college, and I was a sophomore successful precocious school, and we were conscionable successful 2 wildly antithetic areas of our lives. He didn't privation a small precocious schoolhouse woman anymore, which devastated me. We reconnected erstwhile I was getting divorced 7 years later, and helium told maine that I was his 1 that got away. Feeling the aforesaid way, I tried to person him to conscionable up with me. We lived thousands of miles apart, but I was consenting to thrust crossed authorities lines to spot him and effort to marque it work, but helium fought maine connected each measurement of the process until I conscionable gave up, and we dilatory mislaid interaction again."

8. "I fell successful emotion with someone, but I got frightened and broke up with him. I privation I could explicate to him however I truly feel, nevertheless helium won’t talk to me. I’m truly sorry."

—clumsystar53

9. "I’m sorry. If I’d person known and tried, possibly things would person been different. I’m atrocious I didn’t instrumentality the chance."

—Anonymous, 34, Female

10. "I cherish the memories we made and deliberation of you truthful fondly. Thank you."

—Anonymous, 40, Female

11. "I met a pistillate astatine a enactment astatine my cousin's location erstwhile I was successful my 20s. My relative had grown up successful different state, and she was 1 of his precocious schoolhouse friends. That night, we ended up connected the backmost structure talking until the wee hours of the morning. We kissed, but she besides revealed that she lived successful NY with her boyfriend. We stayed successful touch. A twelvemonth later, she broke up with him, and we started dating. We dated for astir a twelvemonth and got engaged. Then she started having 2nd thoughts astir the ex. He had a batch of issues, and she had been dating him since aboriginal precocious school; she felt a consciousness of work for him. I tried to explicate to her that that was not thing to physique a matrimony on. But she tried."

12. "I met this astonishing feline successful assemblage 13 years ago. He and I person ever been bully friends, and we person a heavy connection. We're with different radical now, and I privation I could've told him it's specified a missed accidental with him. I deliberation I mightiness adjacent emotion him. We get on truthful well. I tin archer we deliberation the aforesaid thing, but we don't privation to accidental it retired loud."

—Anonymous, 34, Female

13. "He was a magnificent archetypal love, but I knew helium was not who I needed for the agelong term. Too galore reddish flags; ascendant mother, insecurities, archetypal signs of depression, and a emotion for maine that seemed excessively expansive for maine to reciprocate. I’ve been joined for 54 years to my 2nd choice, and though helium wasn't the burning passionateness of my youth, it was what my caput said I needed. But sometimes I wonder…"

14. "We had a happening for astir a month, but helium had conscionable gotten retired of a semipermanent narration and was successful nary presumption for thing serious. I felt truthful powerfully for him, but I was sending weird mixed signals due to the fact that I knew helium wasn't successful the spot to beryllium successful a narration with me. It wounded a lot, and, adjacent though helium ne'er erstwhile did thing remotely toxic, I blocked him conscionable to support myself from contacting him erstwhile I knew it was going nowhere. It was silly and childish of me. Sometimes I deliberation that if I had been much existent to myself and little guarded that possibly with time, we could person been something. I cognize we would person made a good pair."

"But, astatine the aforesaid time, I don't cognize however it would person played retired if we had really been together. I lone knew him for a month. There was truthful overmuch I inactive had to larn astir him that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not person been what I really wanted successful a partner."

—Worth-History-9712

15. "I deliberation I’m presently surviving it. I sometimes ideate what it would person been similar to beryllium with him successful different life. In this life, I’ll fto him get away, due to the fact that it feels similar the benignant happening to do."

—NoTuneJune

16. "I erstwhile posed this question to idiosyncratic (I had the 'one-who-got-away' since 1990 and couldn’t halt reasoning astir them), and they said, 'The 1 that got distant is 1 that didn’t privation to beryllium with you.' It stung. But they were right. It helped maine to halt glorifying that person. So, no. I nary longer person one."

17. "As I got older and wiser, I realized that if idiosyncratic 'got away,' it was usually due to the fact that we weren’t arsenic bully a lucifer arsenic I would person hoped, and successful the agelong run, it’s amended for everyone."

—QuesoDelDiablos

Do you person the 1 that got away? What would you similar to accidental to them? What happened? Let america cognize your thoughts!

Or, for those who similar to stay anonymous, you tin capable retired the anonymous signifier below! Your effect whitethorn beryllium featured successful an upcoming BuzzFeed post.

Note: Responses person been edited for length/clarity.

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize is successful contiguous information arsenic a effect of home violence, telephone 911. For anonymous, confidential help, you tin telephone the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline astatine 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) oregon chat with an advocator via the website.